


A Not-So-Noble Fir

by lookingfortherainbow



Series: Advent Calendar Fics of 2020 [1]
Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Awkward Flirting, Christmas Shopping, Christmas Tree, Crush at First Sight, Customer Zayn, First Meetings, Fluff, Handkerchief Code, Lumberjack Liam, M/M, Meet-Cute, No Smut
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-02
Updated: 2020-12-02
Packaged: 2021-03-09 22:27:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 897
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27833761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lookingfortherainbow/pseuds/lookingfortherainbow
Summary: Zayn goes Christmas tree shopping. He meets his knight in checkered plaid.
Relationships: Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Series: Advent Calendar Fics of 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037256
Comments: 7
Kudos: 62





	A Not-So-Noble Fir

**Author's Note:**

> My first advent fic!! I was inspired by dollylux's series to do this. I wrote this while very tired, and tried my best with editing. Apologies for any silly typos or overuse of their names, haha. Hope you enjoy the awkward flirting ahead! <3 
> 
> This is dedicated to the Christmas tree I got today. Her name's Charlotte.

Zayn is sipping hot cocoa, strolling through the aisles of the pole barn that stores all the freshly cut Christmas trees at his local nursery when he sees him. 

He looks like a lumberjack straight out of some kind of beautifully illustrated children’s book that Zayn used to flip through when he was a kid. He’s got a red and black plaid flannel on, sweaty white tank underneath, worn blue jeans slouching down and holding onto his hips only by the strength of his black belt, and an axe in his hand that ties it all together. Or maybe the beard is what does it. Or it could be the black handkerchief that’s hanging from his left-hand back pocket. Either way, Zayn is struck dumb as he holds the cup to his lips, burning his top lip on the hot liquid. 

“Shit, ow, fuck!” he hisses, rubbing his top lip with his sleeve, spilling a few drops of chocolate liquid as he shifts about in pain. 

His momentary agony makes him forget about the hottie in the plaid, but when he looks up again, he’s met by a pair of warm brown eyes squinting at him, mischief in his smile. Plaid Hottie looks away quickly, carrying that axe with him on his way like it’s as an accessory similar to a wallet. 

“Hey, ‘scuse me,” Zayn calls, waving.

Plaid Hottie stops and turns, eyebrows raised in question. 

“Um, I found the one,” Zayn says, as the man reroutes towards him. “I mean, I found the tree.”

“And another attractive fellow finds his soulmate in a Noble Fir,” Plaid Hottie sighs, making a joke out of Zayn’s weird announcement. 

He’s still spinning from both the throb in his upper lip, and the fact that the man just called him attractive. It doesn’t help that, with that compliment, the handkerchief has just become a thousand times more suspicious, and Zayn’s whole body is throbbing a bit too much like his lip. 

“A noble fir?”

Plaid Hottie chuckles a little, and Zayn’s whole body warms like he swallowed his hot cocoa in one go. “It’s the name of your true love here,” he jokes, pointing to the scraggly fir tree that’s leaning in a slant on the wall. 

Of course Zayn had to stop in front of _this_ tree when he made a snap decision to call over Plaid Hottie. His impulse tree picking is even worse than his impulse flirting. He gives the other man a feeble smile, knowing how ridiculous it must seem that he chose one of the ugliest trees out of the lineup to bring home. 

“Right, my--true love,” Zayn says slowly, finally spotting the name tag on the other man’s flannel. 

Liam--Plaid Hottie--sidles up to him, lowering his voice and leaning close like he’s about to divulge top secret information to him. “You know, I heard that despite their name, they’re really not all that noble, afterall.”

Zayn gasps quietly, hoping it sounds theatrical instead of truly stunned at the fact the man is so breathtaking up close. “That’s false advertising then,” he manages to get out.

Liam shrugs his shoulders, tilts his head and lifts his arm slightly. “That’s what I’ve been trying to say all along.”

Taking the tree with him as he starts walking towards the entrance, he leads Zayn who follows like a lost puppy, sipping at his hot cocoa to calm his nerves.

“Is that axe also false advertising, or do you really chop down trees like a regular lumberjack?”

Liam lets out this adorable laugh, his whole face lighting up. “No, I can assure you, the axe is not a prop.”

They arrive at the tree cutting station, and Liam cuts the end of his tree off. Zayn takes note of the strong, lean tendons in Liam’s forearms, the chevrons imprinted there in black ink. The fresh smell of the fir is almost dizzying. Not as dizzying as the realization that Liam’s staring at him a bit, but it’s still quite pleasant.

“Why’d you ask?”

“Well, to be honest, you look more like a paid model than a working employee,” Zayn admits. 

Liam turns into a blushing doll, skin under his beard growing pink. “Somebody’s got to compete with these damn Not-so-Noble firs!”

Zayn snorts at this. “So, you can walk a runway and hold your own, while also being able to defend a distressed peasant like you’re a _noble_ knight in flannel?”

“Are you the distressed peasant in this situation?”

“You already know I am, since you saw me burn my lip earlier.”

Liam laughs a little sheepishly, nodding, eyes so innocent it’s a mindfuck that the rest of him is sex on legs.

“That’s why I came so quickly to your call. I could sense you needed a distraction from the burn.” 

“You did well, I’ll give you that,” Zayn shrugs, feigning nonchalance. “But I’m still not sure of your virtues.”

“My virtues?” Liam repeats, grin still not dropping off his lips. 

“Yeah, how am I really supposed to believe you’re more noble than that,” Zayn points to the scraggly tree that Liam has now netted, “sturdy tree there.”

“Give me one evening with you, and I’ll prove it,” Liam suggests, confident grin on his face. 

Zayn took him up on the offer, and that one night turned into a lifetime of virtuous displays.

**Author's Note:**

> More to come tomorrow (as I'm posting this at 11:30 pm)!! I'm on [tumblr](https://andtheywerebandmates.tumblr.com) , come say hi!


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